Vacuum-breaker for condensers.



PATENTED FEB. 6, 1906.

B. 0. WOODFORD.

VACUUM BREAKER FOR CONDENSERS.

APPLICATION FILED PERS, 1905.

, from the condenser slackens or stops.

rrnn reinste Hqrrr rien.

BRONSON U. WGODFORD, OF NEW- YORK, N. Y., .ASSIGNUR TO lN'lERNA- TlDNAL@Thrill/I PUMP COMPANY, 0F NEW YORK., N. Y., 'A CRPORA- 'HUN OF NEWJERSEY.

no. si 1,990.

speeiaeanon teneri/em raient.

Patented net. e, ieee.

Application led February 8, 1905. Serial llo. 244,571.24.'

useful Improvements in Vacuum-Breakers for Condensers, fully describedand repre sented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to that class of con- Ystructions 'known asvacuum breakers,

which are used in injection and other condensers to prevent flooding ofthe condenser by the inj eetionwater when the withdrawal of watpr nconstructions ot' this class it is veryi'm portant that the vacuumshould be broken quickly when the waterdevel in' the condenser rises toohigh; and the object of the present invention is to provide aconstruction by which the vacuum `dall be broken by thev o ening of avalve oflarge ellective area, so t at a lar e volume of air shall beadmitted immediate v on opening the valve, and which valve shall beopera ted by pressure controlled by a small control-valve operated' bythe usual loat, so that a light float ressure shall be suliicient toshift the contro -valve while a much larger opening pressure on thevacuum breaklng valve is secured, thus avoiding any danger of thevacuurn-breaker failing to work through sticking of the valves orotherwise.

A detailed description oi a construction embodying the invention asapplied in itis preferred `forni to a condenser of a common type `willnow be given in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and the features forming the invention willthen be specifically pointed out in the claims.

ln the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagram matic elevation el" a combinedcondenser and vacuumqmnp of a common type provided with myvacuum-breaker and showing the position oli the parts with. thevacuurnfbrmthing valve closed, as in the normal operation of thecondenser. Fig. 2 is an enlarged dctail ol the valve portion olIv Fig.l. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section of the vacuLim-breaker similar' to Fig.l, but showing the position of the parts with the vaeurun-breaking valvenear the bottom by the vend oi the 1opened to, break the vacuum. Fig. L1is a detail cross; `ctien on the line 4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to said drawings, A is the condensing-chamber, B theexhaust-steam ipe, C is the injection-water pipe, and l the pump, ofwhich only the plunger end is shown, all of' which parte may be oi anysuitable construction and are shown as of a comnien form.

Referrin 'r now to the vacuu1n-breaker, on one-side o` thecondensing-cha1nber A and connected thereto by pipes 10 11, as shown, orit may be by a sing e` continuous opening, is a suitable casing orfloat-tank E, entered ipe 10 and having an opening at the 'to willich isclosed by a plate or cao 12, whic' cap carries the valve devices. ithinthe tank E is a loat F, carried by .lever 14, shown as pivoted on abracket and connected by link 15 to the ccntrol-valve e, so as to movethis valve up and down as the float rises and falls. This control-valvea has the vusual guiding-ribs 7 on its stem and moves in a assage 16,formed in an upward extension o the cap 12 and controls this passage 16,which communicates with the space inside the tank E, passage 17,communicating with the atmosplhere, and passage 18, connnunicating withe amber 19, which is the pressure-chamber for the piston on the mainvalve, as described hereinafter. Extending below the passage 18 the up)er assage' 16 is enlarged somewhat to receive t 1e piston a, as shownat l, and at the bot-toni of this enlargement `is formed a seat 2 forthe valve a.

The main or vacuum-breaking valve b seats u ion a valve-seat 3, formedon the to i of the plate or cap 12, and is shown as provi ed with theusual guiding-ribs 4, by which the valve is guided in the plate 12.rThis valve i; is connected by ribs 5to a piston c moving in premsure-chamber 1), formed in the upward exe tension ol' theI plate or cap12, this pressure.- chamber being preferably closed as shown., by aremovable cap 20, so that the valve and piston c may readily be removed.The space between the Valve and piston c is open to the atmosphere, sothat the lower sido of the piston c is exposed to atmospheric )ressure.This atmospheric pressure acts, therel'ore, on the top ol the valve l)and the-under TC O side of the piston c; but the area of the undersurface of the piston c is larger than that of the top of the valve b,so that this excess of pressure on the-under side ofthe piston c willraise the pistone and valve b, When the chamber 19 above the piston isopened to the -tank E and condensing chamber. The area of the uppersurface of the piston c is larger thanthat of the under surface, so thatwhen the valve b is open and exposed to atmospheric pressure on.opposite-sides admission of atmospher'w. pressure to the chamber 19 willovercome the upward pressure on the under side of the piston c and closethe valve.

In the normal position of the parts the valve e is in the position shownin Figs. 1 and 2, in

which theiassage 16 from the float-tank E is" closed an the chamber 19connected with the atmosphere through openings 17 18 abovev the pistona. When the valve a is raised into the position shown in Fig. 3 by therising of the lioat F, the passage 17 from the atmosphere is closed andthe chamber 19 connected with the tank E through passages 16 18.

The operation of the construction will be understood from a briefdescription. The steam entering the chamber A through the exhaust steampipe B is condensed by the cold injectionwater entering through the pipeC and preferably sprayed into the steam,

as usual in suoli condensers, and the discharge- Water is withdrawn fromthe condensingchamber A and delivered by the pump D, so as to preservethe vacuum. The level of the water in the lower part ol" thecondensingchamber and the pipe connecting it with the pump is constantlyiiuctuating, and if the pump slows down or stops the water may rise highenough in the condensing-chamber to submerge pipe C and even overliowthe elbow of the pipe B. at the top of the condenser. This llooding ofthe condenser is prevented by breaking the vacuum by opening valve b,

- and thus admitting air under atmospheric pressure to the condenserthrough tank E and pipe 11, thus stopping the inflow of injection- Waterthrough the pi e C, which opening of the valve b is secure( as follows:Before the water reaches the lower edge of the injectionpipe Cit reachesthe pipe 10 and lower portion of the tank E and with the ampleconnection of pipe 1() the water-levels in the tank andcondensing-chamber will rise nearly together, thus raising the float Fand through lever 14 and link 15 raising the control-valve a from theposition shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to that shown in Fig. 3, thus closingchamber 19 to the atnlos here and opening it to the tank E. This resu tsin reducing the pressure above the piston c to condenservacuum-pressure, and the excess of atmospheric pressure on the underside or' the piston c then raises the piston quickly and opens the valvefor the admission of air to the comlenser-chamber tin-ough pipe 11, thusbreaking the vacuum and stopping the inflow of injection -water throughthe pipe C. When the level of. the water in the condenser falls again,the water falls in the tank E and the lowering of float F moves -thecontrol-valve a downward to the normal 'valve b, and the vacuum is againformed in 7the condensing-chamber for the normal operation of thecondenser.

, 'It will be seen that in the construction shown the valve b may bequite large, so as to secure the admission of a large volume of air witha small opening of the valve, and l thus assure a quick breaking of thevacuum. This use of alarge eifectivelvalve area is made possible by theuse of the control-valve, as the large valve b is not lifted againstatmospheric pressure by the loat, but actuated by the pressure on thepiston c. The valve operated by the iloat, therefore, may be quitesmall, so that light pressure and a small float will raise it, and alldanger ofthe iloat failing to open the valve on account of sticking,which has existed in previous vacuum-breakers, is avoided.

The invention has been illustrated as applied to a common type ofcondenser and vacuum-pump; but it will be understood that it isapplicable also to other forms'of condensers and in other condensingsystems than those in which the vacuum is main-v tained by directconnection of the condensing-chamber to a vacuum-pump, as shown, and theinvention obviously may be used in all classes of condensers in which itis desirable to break the vacuum in case the water rises too high in thecondenser.

Wvhet I claim is- 1` The combination with a condenser, of avacuum-breaker having an air-inlet valveex- I posed to atmosphericpressure on its outer side, a valve-actuating piston, a controlvalve andpassages for varying the pressure on said piston to open and close theair-inlet valve, and a lloat and connections for actuating saidcontrol-valve to secure the opening of the air-inlet valve when-theliquid in the condenser reaches a certain level..

lIO

The combination with a condenser, of a vacuum-breaker having theinlet-valve eX-v posed to atmospheric pressure on its outer side, apiston connected to said valve and exposed to atmospheric )ressuretending to open the valve, a control-wilve and passages for (.:onnectingthe opposite side of the piston with the atmosphere orciunlensing-chaniber,

